Container assemblies are used to store a plethora of goods (e.g., candies) and come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. A typical container assembly generally includes a container having an open end and a lid to cover that open end. To ensure that the lid is appropriately secured to the container and closes the open end, the container and the lid are often outfitted with one of a variety of different securing features. For example, the container and the lid can be fashioned with threads, a hinge assembly, or a living hinge. Likewise, the container and the lid can have closely matched outer peripheries such that the lid will friction fit over the container. No matter what method and/or apparatus is employed, the lid has to be securable to the container proximate the open end to ensure that the contents of the container assembly remain housed therein until a user of the container assembly desires to dispense those contents.
Just as the size, shape, and color of the container assembly can vary, so too can the different types of openings and structures used to dispense the goods from the container assembly vary. Unfortunately, many of these different openings and/or structures are inefficient and burdensome for the user of the container assembly. For example, in a container assembly employing mated threads on the container and the lid, the user of the container assembly must unscrew and completely remove the lid from the container to retrieve the goods stored in the container. In another example, where a lid is secured to a container using a hinge assembly, the lid often requires a clasp or other securing feature at an opposing end of the lid. Without such a clasp, the lid would be free to pivot about the hinge assembly. As a result, opening the container assembly with a hinge assembly requires that two hands be used to dispense the goods. One hand to steady the container, the other hand to operate the clasp.
Unfortunately, too many of the containers assemblies are difficult to move from an “open position”, where the container assembly contents can be dispensed, to a “closed position”, where the container assembly contents cannot be dispensed. Also, for one reason or another, container assemblies often require two hands to manipulate the container assembly between the open position and the closed position. The prior art has failed to adequately remedy these problems.